Is Marvel Working On A Secret 'Namor' Project?

Take this one with a grain of salt. Actually, take it with an ocean's worth of salt. The latest rumor to hit the world of Superhero Movie News Coverage is that Marvel is working on a project built around the character of Namor and that it's eyeing Hawaii as a potential filming location. This is entirely unsubstantiated at the moment, but we're going to go ahead and cover it for one reason only: Marvel really should make a Namor movie. Why the hell not?

This rumor arrives seven months after the rights to Namor reportedly returned to Marvel after an extended stay with Universal, during which a big screen take on the character failed to materialize. That news followed a few years of conflicting reports where it just wasn't clear who owned what. If Marvel is moving forward with a Namor project, it's because all of that dust has finally settled.

And this rumor comes to us from Reel News Hawaii, who report on the various projects filming in America's 50th state. According to their Twitter feed, Warner Bros.' Aquaman and Marvel's Namor are both eyeing the Hawaiian islands as potential filming locations. We know that the former was already planning to shoot in Australia, but it would make sense for additional photography to take place elsewhere. But a Namor project...well, its very existence is news to us.

There's buzz around the island that two rival productions could be swimming on our waters. "Aquaman" & "Submariner". Fingers crossed! pic.twitter.com/1WLbZkWJAN

— Reel News Hawaii (@reelnewshawaii) February 15, 2017

For the record, Reel News Hawaii was the first outlet to report that Marvel's upcoming Inhumans television series would be filming in their neck of the woods, so they could very well know what they're talking about. What's not clear is whether or not this mysterious Namor project is a film or a television show. Heck, it could even be a spin-off from The Inhumans, for all we know. If it's real.

If Marvel is working on a Namor project (and let's keep that "if" italicized until we know more), they would be introducing a truly strange character into their increasingly busy cinematic universe. Originally introduced in 1939, Namor is the son of a human and the princess of Atlantis, making him Marvel's answer to Aquaman. But while Aquaman is a fairly straightforward do-gooder who defends the ocean from mankind, Namor is far more...let's say, aggressive in his mission, destroying ships and leveling buildings and waging an ongoing war against mankind to protect his world. He's one of the first comic book antiheroes, a guy who does the wrong things for the right reasons.

Although originally created for Timely Comics 20 years before the Marvel universe existed, Namor was eventually integrated into the same universe as Spider-Man and the Avengers. He continues to walk the fine line between hero and villain, with the recent revelation that he's actually a mutant giving him another reason to despise humankind. Most importantly, even in his most heroic moments, Namor is a total dick. A giant a**hole. He makes Doctor Strange look humble. There's no one else quite like him in the MCU right now: a powerful force of nature who hates most of the heroes he tends to team up with and probably wouldn't mind seeing Earth's cities leveled.

So yeah, bring on Namor. Let's hope there's some truth to this.